Feb. 8, 2006

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Rider Head Coach Tommy Dempsey:

Opening Statement:

I am disappointed.  I thought we were very ready to play this game tonight especially after getting embarrassed at home by them.  I know Marist is playing very well, but I expected us to respond and I thought we were prepared to win.  I thought we guarded them pretty well, but our offense failed us tonight.  We have been playing well offensively and our focus was on defense, but the offense just wasn't there tonight.

On preparation:

Marist is very tough to prepare for.  It all starts with Jared and he has just had an unbelievable year.  He had 16 points, 10 assists, but I thought we did a good job on him and I thought he had to work for it tonight. 

On making a comeback:

We had a couple of runs where we needed to tighten things up, but we had an unfortunate turnover.  I think we guarded them well enough to beat them tonight, but our offense just couldn't get it.  We seem to be consistently trailing and when we tried to play fast it led to a lot of turnovers.  Earlier in the game we had much more control, even though we were not ahead, the game was more to our liking.  The pace started to get ahead of us around that eight minute mark in the second half. 

On Marist's James Smith:

We thought when they lost McClurkin that they would lose some power in the post, but Smith kind of came out of nowhere and gave them a legitimate five-man.  Stilphen is very, very good, but not that kind of bruiser down in the post.  If they didn't have Smith, they'd have to rely on their ability to shoot from the outside much more.

On Rider's Jason Thompson:

He played in foul trouble tonight and now has been drawing so much attention.  This is a learning process for him after being a role player as a freshman.  People are crowding him as much as possible and he almost has to pass it back out more times than he is able to shoot.

Rider forward Edwin Muniz

On having to defend Marist:

Coach had us prepared for all their different flares and screens, but it is tough because they capitalize on every mistake that you make. 

On their struggles this year:

I wish I could put a finger on it, but it's tough.  We have had some struggles with chemistry, but I hope we can turn things around before we get to the MAAC Tournament.  Our confidence is not down and we hope we can make some noise at the tournament.

Head Coach Matt Brady:

On tonight's game vs. Rider:

We knew this was going to be another battle.  Winning on their court a couple of weeks ago we knew they would be well prepared for this game.  We had an improvement in the second half and some of the difficult shots they were making in the first half they started missing in the second. That allowed us to break out. 

On team's close games:

We have been in every game.  Of our seven loses, five of them have been on the opposing team's final possession.  This requires us to have a lot of energy on defense, as well as rebounding.

On where the team needs to improve:

One thing we need to improve is to run the floor harder.  We gave up some layups and run out threes tonight and we need to do better at stopping that.  We have the best defensive field goal percentage in the conference and if we show them five defenders at all times, were going to be tough to beat.

James Smith:

On carry-over from career game on Sunday:

It helps and it doesn't.  In the beginning I thought I was invincible from the outside and I took some bad shots.  But as the game went on I settled down and didn't force as much.

On point guard Jared Jordan:

He's great.  He has great court vision, and he always finds us. 

On remaining in the game and playing more minutes.

Staying out of foul trouble allowed me to remain in the game and contribute more.

Jared Jordan:

On tonight's game:

I didn't think the energy was high in the first half, and that's what happened last time we were home against Saint Peter's and we lost the game.  At halftime we talked about coming out and picking up the energy.  We were up three points and didn't have much out there and we wanted to pick it up.  We weren't in sync out there and I thought it was one of our worse halves of the year.  They were beating us down the court a number of times, and they dictated the pace of the game early.  We tried to change that in the second half.